Freelance Writers — $5 Per 400- to 500-Word Article

Finally, I found some people in the U.S. who pay freelance writers $5 per article consisting of 400 to 500 words and who actually pay.   And to my surprise, they paid in advance the first 15 articles. What’s more, they don’t have a lot of requirements, and the topic is one of those I enjoy writing about.

And I got this job through Craigslist just this May.  The only minus-point is that the workload is not that much.

But the good thing is, in this new project I earn in just two to three days what I’ve been earning in 6 days in the project I’ve been doing for the past 18 months.  Also, the new project does not have a lot of specifications and keywords, and it has prospects of increased workload.

Fellow Pinoy freelance writers have been asking others to accept only writing jobs for not less than $5 per article of 500 words, in order to improve Pinoy writing rates in general.  But it has not been easy finding these clients that really send the payments.

A lot of freelance writing jobs on Craigslist are bargain-priced.  Imagine getting paid for one dollar (that’s only 46 pesos!) for a 400-word original, researched article?  And others even require the articles to be ready for spinning or with some other attached tasks!

Lastly, I’m thankful that I found a  client that didn’t scam me.  Recently, a fellow freelance writer wrote a lot of articles for a certain website, which suddenly disappeared, and which didn’t pay him.  He got the client through Craigslist.

This January 11, 2011, Ash wrote something on the comments section, and I believe what she shared should be read by fellow starting and not-yet-there freelance writers:

“what an inspiring article. thank you for posting this. i had also recently begun freelance writing (used to work in an office) and i was surprised at the going rate of some.

my first offer was $.50/100 words, downgraded from my asking of $2.50/100 words. dirt cheap, i know, but i was new and didn’t have a thing to my name. plus, it was the holidays–i was unemployed, renting, sending a kindergartener to school and my post-shopping overall finances were running low. like P600 low. in short, i was desperate. lol.

good thing the employer added more subtopics bec he got inspired by what i wrote, so the word count increased by another 1000 words.

after 2 days, somebody interviewed me and, after showing him my written samples, he hired me on the spot for $10/hr. it’s only part time, though. which is just as well bec i very recently got hired for a full time home-based editing job that pays good.

i can research and write 1 article in 2-3 hours at my going rate. i don’t think i will lower it; i’m sure that i’m worth every penny i charge them. i know that some employers will tell you that if you don’t lower your rate, they can always find others who will work for much cheaper.

i don’t blame them, that’s their prerogative. my prerogative is this: if they can’t afford my rate, somebody who can will always find me.

and they just did. tonight, somebody contacted me saying they like my writing and will be letting me know when they have a job for me. i will be waiting. and writing and writing until i can justify upping my rate once more. in the future :-)”

Thanks a lot, Ash.

UPDATE on my blogpost on freelance writing:

It’s now January 2011, and my working relationship with these clients I talked about in the blogpost has been going great. The primary client turned out to be a fellow Pinoy who has immigrated to the U.S., and when he vacationed here last October, we met and treated me to a great expensive lunch.

He and his foreign-born wife are again coming over here this February, and again I received an invitation for another lunch. Last December, he gave me a bonus.  No one else in my past and present freelancing work has given me a bonus.  My other employer, based in the Alabang corporate world, didn’t give a bonus.  I didn’t mind it much though as bonuses weren’t in the homebased-employment contract that I signed.

Additionally, my work with this U.S. client doubled, as I helped bring traffic to his and his wife’s sites.  Surely, if we give our best effort and we comply with the deadlines (although this client is flexible with the deadlines, but I don’t abuse it), we reap great fruits.

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